The COS/GEM Uber Story, Redux, and Two Free Books

(Ah, Monique and Tara, I see you both perking up at the idea of more COS and GEM background :D )

Thanks for making it to chat at Writerspace on Sat. night! It was a blast, and of course, tons of questions on His Jedness. It also wowed me to know so many of you want to read more about Alex and T. They are an elusive couple ;-).

It's difficult to properly explain their story and the circumstance of their book in a chat, though. Yes, it's true that I wrote Diamond's and T's story a long time ago, but it was categorical length (pre-2000 new word length) and conceived way before the expansion of the COS commando/SEALs/GEM plot lines of the later single titles. The manuscript was, at the time, the second book in my five-book plan to write about a group of commandos that had been taken surprise by an explosion during an important mission (see Big Bang intro at Da Glow World).

When I sold Into Danger, I signed a two-book contract and I offered Diamond's and T's story as my second proposal. However, my then editor, after reading the proposal and chapters, rejected it, saying that she (and Avon) thought that it was not second book material. I still have no idea what that means. Anyway, I offered Ricardo Harden's story instead and that was accepted.

After this first two-book contract, Avon offered me a three-book contract, with the request that I wrote about SEALs. Brockmann's SEAL books were very, very popular back in 2003/04 and of course, many fans had written to Avon that they enjoyed Stash's story and especially his cousin, Hawk, and his SEAL team very much in Into Danger.

As it so happened, I had already started Jazz's story on my own a while back. In my head, I had an overall arc of missing weapons, revenge, and the Big Secret of the GEM project, that sort of went like this:

(Before I continue, I want to emphasize that since I do NOT plot or FOLLOW any stringent plot line in my head, what you read in the following paragraphs does not mean it's the plot you'll read in my published books, but I thought you might be interested in knowing that I do have a Grand Plan. Of sorts ;-P)

1. Big Bang

2. Five commandos affected, some dead (KIA), some missing (MIA)

3. COS Center in deep doodoo, shorthanded, out of whack

4. Number Three (written)

5. Number One found (written)

6. Number Nine returns (sort of written, but discarded because he was just too damn tomcat-tish) and umm, yeah, this was him with Nikki.

7. Number Five (a quarter written)
and so on and so forth outlines of various commandos.

8. Meanwhile shorthandedness causes part-merger with GEM

9. (At this point, I'm writing my first single title Grace's story because it's tied to Number Three story)

10. I jumped two years ahead of the Big Bang to see the effects of the Big Bang on COS and GEM, but I also wanted to see whether I could write some other entity besides commandos. And I wanted to showcase my GEM operative in action. Decision paid off: I gots me Stash and Marlena hotness;-).

11. Harden and Nikki, another GEM operative. And umm, yeah, I took Nikki away from Jed and umm, yeah, he' still punishing me for it.

12. The SEALs were needed because the commandos were shorthanded, remember? They were all after different missing weapons now, so I wrote the three SEAL stories. I showed COS Center's hand in these missions with the appearances of Diamond and Jed, as well as references to them, the two year long operation after the Big Bang, the merger.

All along, questions to SELF: What is happening at COS Center? They aren't just sitting on their hands letting those SEALs have all the action, right?

13. I woke up one day and found my answer to what was to be the COS solution: super soldier spy. After all, they were almost 100 percent again and the merger was, in my head, a success. I have given them time to recruit new VIRUSes (including Armando Chang). It was time for Da Revenge.

14. The Virtual story must flip back the timeline because I need Helen not being there for two years (the two years since the Big Bang and merger). When she appears, there is a hubbub of activity going on, most of which you already know, (not necessarily in order but my brain has these notations floating around) what with the SEALs running around in a Joint Venture, darling T. bringing the inscrutable Diamond back into the fold, the commandos having been undergoing tryouts with SymBios Serum II, Jed getting busier and busier and BUSIER, one weapon found, noose around Mad Max getting tighter, COS commandos coming back together as a full unit, and yeah, let's bring Super Soldier Spy in.

15. What? (cupping ear) You want to know the Big Secret of the GEM project.... Nope, not telling ;-).

But haven't I bent your ear enough with the grand scheme of things? Besides, the above explanation was meant to clarify Alex's and T's story. Yes, it's written, but I have to reconfigure it to fit the other stuff. T. and Alex play a vital part in my COS and GEM story arc, but their odd cat-and-mouse game has to be relegated in the background till I can get their story sold. If ever, sob***.

So, in answer to a bunch of similar questions on Saturday night and in emails, no, I don't know when T's and Alex's story will be out. I don't know if it will be sold, even, because publishers have different agendas than my Muse ;-). I know I will rewrite their story one day, though, because they are a part of the universe I've built.

As a reward for your patiently reading this long, long post, I have TWO ARCs to give away:

On The Loose by Tara Janzen
Lessons of Desire by Madeline Hunter

Just post in the comment area and tell me how disturbing my brainwaves must be to have all the above curdling in there...somewhere..... Don't leave your email addy, 'kay? When I post the winners, you can email me and give me the info then.

There, have I bored the panties off you yet?

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